Vermont lawmakers mull ways to help agricultural industry

(WCAX)
Published: Jan. 23, 2020 at 4:23 PM EST
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One of Vermont's biggest industries could get a boost.

A new state report outlines a need for investments in marketing, business planning and product research to help the agricultural economy.

It also recommends spending about $900,000 on sourcing food for charities using local food and creating local food access programs.

Over the last year, lawmakers, state and agricultural industry leaders have been brainstorming ways to counteract declining commodity prices and a slowing economy.

They hope the plan gives farmers across Vermont the tools to build their businesses.

"It doesn't dictate one particular practice or another. What it does do is it looks at choices and opportunities, and gives the farmer, the producer, the small business information of where possibly I can go to make my business better," Vt. Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts said.

Gov. Phil Scott is also pitching three-quarters of a million dollars to the state's working land initiative. Right now, about 64,000 Vermonters work in the state's ag industry.